African American Social Work
Pioneers’ Response to Need
Iris Carlton-LaNey
This article discusses the fundamental values and principles that
guided African American social work practice at the beginning of
the century. The elements and dimensions that were a significant
part of this practice repertoire are also discussed. As African
Americans claimed their place among social work pioneers, the
primacy of their mission improved the collective social
functioning of their communities. For these pioneers social work
was both “cause and function.” Their legacy is a strength-based
practice model on which contemporary scholars and
practitioners can build.
Key words: African Americans; community practice;
history; pioneers
A
frican American pioneer social workers of
the Progressive Era (1898–1918) were at
once concerned about the private troubles
of individuals and the larger public issues that
affected them. They also were acutely aware of
their relationship to the community residents
they served. There was very little physical, social, and economic distance between the workers and their clients. They lived in the same
communities and by virtue of race shared many
of the same societal problems and issues of concern. Their work at the beginning of this century reflects contemporary community practice.
For these African American pioneers, community practice had both a macro- and a microorientation. These individuals “directed intervention designed to bring about planned
change in organizations and communities”—
macropractice (Netting, Kettner, & McMurtry,
1993, p. 3) while “developing, locating, linking
with and managing community resources” in a
way that helped to improve individual social
functioning—micropractice (Hardcastle,
Wenocur, & Powers, 1997, p. 2). Progressive–
Era African American social workers’ community practice was essentially “race work,” which
personalized problems to alleviate human suffering and concurrently organized and developed private organizations to change the system. The “race men” and “race women” who
engaged in the emerging social work profession
were among the “talented tenth,” the educated
elite of the African American community
(DuBois, 1908). Self-help, race pride, mutual
aid, and social debt became part of the underpinning that guided their practice. These principles and values were neither exclusive nor sequential. Instead they were each part of the
foundation on which social work and social
welfare services were developed to meet the
needs of the African American community.
This article will briefly discuss these fundamental values as they were reflected in African
American social work at the beginning of the
CCC Code: 0037-8046/99 $3.00 © 1999
National Association of Social Workers, Inc.
Carlton-LaNey / African American Social Work Pioneers’ Response to Need
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century. The elements and dimensions that
were a significant part of their practice repertoire are also discussed. As African Americans
claimed their place among social work pioneers,
the primacy of their mission to improve the
collective social functioning of their racially
segregated communities became clear. For
these pioneers social work was both “cause and
function.”
housing, child care issues, and the need for African Americans to help each other. Furthermore, in an effort to chronicle social services
within the African American community, W. E.
B. DuBois, through the Atlanta University surveys, published Some Efforts of American Negroes for their Own Social Betterment in 1898
and Efforts for Social Betterment among Negro
Americans in 1909. Although the data included
in these two publications were incomplete, they
nonetheless reflected the self-help work that
was taking place throughout the country at the
beginning of the century.
Mutual aid, a fundamental part of the African tradition, was perfected in this country during the African American enslavement. It was
through mutual aid that the slave community
and later the emancipated freedmen and
women engaged in their greatest form of resistance—survival. By the turn of the century,
mutual aid had taken on the character of “community action” (Peebles-Wilkins, 1994). For
example, Lawrence Oxley, a pioneer in social
work training and public welfare work, relied
on his belief in the importance of mutual aid
and embraced the idiom of consciousness of
kind. For Oxley, African Americans helping
each other was the most effective method of
ameliorating desperate social conditions in a
racially segregated country (Burwell, 1994). In
an effort to ensure open communication, to
persuade, encourage, organize, and cajole, African American reformers established their own
literary organs that included newspapers and
journals or magazines such as the Crisis; Opportunity; the New York Age; a womanist publication, Women’s Era; and A. Phillip Randolph and
Chandler Owen’s socialist magazine, the Messenger. The Women’s Era and the Messenger
were both critical to the work of national organizations. The National Association of Colored
Women’s (NACW) clubs relied on the Women’s
Era as a source of news about the activities of
the growing network of clubs throughout the
country. Initially established in 1894 to serve
the Boston clubs, the Women’s Era became the
official organ of the NACW two years later
(Kennedy, 1993). Similarly, through the initiative of A. Phillip Randolph, the Messenger
played a pivotal role in the creation of the
Values and Principles
Self–Help and Mutual Aid
As noted the values and principles fundamental
to African American social work practice were
self-help, mutual aid, race pride, and social
debt.
The focus on self-help and mutual aid became an institutionalized part of the African
American community. Overwhelmingly excluded from full participation in the U.S. social
system and at the same time receiving limited
responses to individual and social problems
from white social workers, African Americans
developed a dogged determination to take care
of their own. A review of the Proceedings of the
National Conference on Charities and Corrections from 1874 through 1945 revealed only
brief and infrequent expressions of concern
about the many social problems and inadequate
social conditions that were the lot of African
Americans during the early decades of the 20th
century (Lide, 1973). On the other hand, the
Southern Workman, the literary organ published
by Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute
for Negroes and Indians (now Hampton University), was devoted entirely to improving the
economic, social, and political conditions of
African Americans. The journal’s mission was
to expose problems and to suggest and examine
strategies for planned change. During the early
part of the century, the journal provided a publishing outlet for many African American social
work pioneers, artists, business men and
women, and others. Like many others, Sarah
Collins Fernandis, a settlement house leader
and pioneer in the public health movement,
relied heavily on the Southern Workman as a
tool for communicating information about
settlement work, interracial activities, health,
Social Work / Volume 44, Number 4 / July 1999
312
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a labor
union serving African American male porters
who worked on Pullman cars (Harris, 1977).
The services and programs that African
American social workers and reformers initiated were racially sensitive, modeled behavior
deemed appropriate for upward mobility and
taught suitable and necessary life skills. Their
schools, churches, businesses, fraternal groups,
and social welfare organizations inculcated the
themes of self-help, mutual aid, and solidarity
(Meier, 1969). Consequently, as African American pioneer social workers embraced the new
social work profession, the ideals of self-help,
racial solidarity, and mutual aid set the thematic parameters for their work.
tion to help the race. In his essay entitled “The
College-Bred Negro,” DuBois (1908) said, “The
best of us should give of our means, our time
and ourselves to leaven the whole” (p. 99). Essentially education had particular meaning for
African Americans and was integrated into
campaigns for the welfare of the race (Gordon,
1991). Many of the pioneer social welfare leaders taught school at some time in their careers.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a prominent political activist and journalist, began teaching at the age
of 15 to support her younger brothers and sisters after her parents were killed by a yellow fever epidemic. Elizabeth Ross Haynes, a labor
expert and wife of Dr. George Haynes, taught
high school immediately after college graduation and before she began her career with the
YWCA. Others like Lucy Laney, Anna Julia
Cooper, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and Mary
McLeod Bethune established schools for African Americans. Education and teaching were so
critical to these pioneers that they were built
into most programs and services of which they
were a part. African American social settlements, for example, included programs to teach
sewing, dressmaking, and child care and public
lectures and literary clubs to stimulate intellectual and political discourse (Carlton-LaNey,
1994; Neverdon-Morton, 1989). Furthermore,
the colleges and universities with which these
pioneers were affiliated advocated education for
service and racial uplift. Unlike some who eagerly accepted their obligations to serve, Janie
Porter Barrett complained about her social indebtedness saying, “I did not love my race! I
didn’t want the responsibility of it. I wanted fun
and pretty things. At the [Hampton] Institute,
we were always hearing about our duty to our
race, and I get so tired of that! Why, on Sundays
I used to wake up and say to myself, ‘Today I
don’t have to do a single thing for my race’”
(Barrett, 1915/1989, p. 105). Although Barrett
protested loudly, her social reform deeds were
much more powerful as she became a prominent and successful organizer in the social
settlement and women’s club movements.
Through her club work, Barrett helped to raise
enough money to create a rehabilitation center
for African American girls—the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls. In addition to the
Race Pride
Race pride, race consciousness, and racial uplift
were also hallmarks of African American social
work and reform during this period. African
American social workers had a significant role
to play in the elevation of the race. They encouraged, taught, mentored, and role modeled
race pride. In so doing, they brought tremendous power to their social service work. Their
work seldom began and ended with the provision of some concrete social service. Rather it
encompassed the “whole person” in his or her
environment. Racial uplift, for example, was
inseparable from efforts to combat sexual exploitation (Gordon, 1991). Hine (1990) found
that African American social work reformers’
efforts to provide recreational programs for
boys was a twofold strategy to both give boys
safe and healthy recreational outlets and to protect girls from assault. As Chandler (1995, p.
507) noted, “Race pride among recipients was
anathema to social service institutions.” Race
pride also served as a mechanism for group solidarity and helped to undercut class differences
between the social workers and the people they
served (Chandler, 1995).
Social Debt
Among African Americans, achieving economic
and educational success carried a moral, monetary, and service obligation. The educated African American was a member of a privileged
group and was expected to use her or his educa-
Carlton-LaNey / African American Social Work Pioneers’ Response to Need
313
indoctrination that was part of the collegiate
experience, McCluskey (1997) noted that these
social welfare reformers’ leadership was
grounded in religious conviction, which they
viewed as a “call to service by those blessed with
an education” (p. 424). Although class consciousness was an accepted consequence of their
achievement and elitism a constant hallmark,
these social welfare pioneers nonetheless embraced a mandate of service-oriented leadership.
eration as the only mechanism through which
racial progress could take place (Giddings,
1984). Still others like W.E.B. DuBois (1935)
believed that interracial cooperation was patronizing and meaningless and failed to address
the major social problems of racism. Although
there was disagreement on the role of interracial cooperation among African Americans, social workers and social welfare leaders continued to tout the importance of race pride and
“self-reclamation” and to maintain a constant
struggle to dispel myths and to establish powerful social institutions and strong role models for
African Americans. Although much of the work
that these social welfare leaders did was to promote inclusion of African Americans into the
larger society, their building of private institutions and developing of social service programs
to serve the community further encouraged
segregation.
The NACW organized in 1896, the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) founded in 1910, and the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, founded in 1911 and renamed the National Urban League (NUL) in 1920, were three
of the most significant social welfare and social
reform organizations for African Americans
during the Progressive Era. Issues of racial oppression and discrimination, racial uplift, and
self-reclamation, as well as culturally appropriate social services delivery, were part of these
organizations’ raison d’etre. Essentially, the
welfare of “the race” was central to all of their
services and programs.
Elements and Dimensions of Practice
The following elements and dimensions were
part of community practice among African
American social work pioneers: race lens, holistic approach, Africentric paradigm, creating organizations and institutions, web of affiliation,
philanthropy, and “we specialize in the wholly
impossible.”
To varying degrees they included all of these
elements as they forged a place for themselves
in the profession and worked to deliver racially
competent social work services.
Race Lens
A “race lens” was used to assess carefully problems and issues that confronted the African
American community. The race lens reflected
racism as a powerful part of the life experiences
of African Americans. Both public and private
archival data on African American social work/
welfare leaders are replete with emphasis on
working for the “race” or racial uplift. There
was no question among these pioneers that
their race was central to their well-being or lack
thereof. Gaining respect from white people
claimed a good deal of attention from the leaders of the African American community. Working with white people through interracial cooperation was deemed necessary and in some
cases desirable. It was not uncommon, as
Simon (1994) noted, for members of oppressed
groups to assume that “wisdom lies outside
themselves and that it resides in others who are
as little like themselves as possible” (p. 12). For
many, it was not “white wisdom” that encouraged interracial cooperation as much as it was
the reality that therein lay the “power” to
change systems. Many of these pioneers, on the
other hand, genuinely valued interracial coop-
Holistic Approach
Social work practice took a holistic approach.
The movement toward professional training of
African American social workers embraced a
holistic approach to social work practice. The
NUL is credited with the first organized social
work course of study for African Americans developed at Fisk University in 1911. Dr. George
Edmund Haynes, co-founder and first executive director of the NUL, was a leader in the
emerging social work profession. His work
helped to introduce hundreds of young men
and women to formal social work training
through the National Urban League Fellowship
Social Work / Volume 44, Number 4 / July 1999
314
program. Confident that a knowledge and an
appreciation of African American history was
essential for any African American who planned
to engage in social work practice, Haynes developed the first courses in African American history to be taught in any U.S. university. These
courses, along with the courses in economics
and sociology, became part of the social work
certificate program (Carlton-LaNey, 1983).
During the 1920s two social work schools
were established for African Americans: the Atlanta School of Social Work and the Bishop
Tuttle School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Although it was recognized that most of the individuals practicing social work were not trained
professionally, training was nonetheless deemed
preferable. Eugene K. Jones (1928/1978), second executive director of the NUL, accorded
professional social work among African Americans powerful status when he stated that, “effective social work among Negroes will tend to
raise the level of intelligence, of physical vigor
and industrial status of the group” (p. 463). For
Jones social work encompassed all aspects of
African American life. Forrester Washington
(1926/1978), director of the Philadelphia
Armstrong Association, believed that professional social work required a “humanitarian
impulse” along with the ability to see “the
causes of certain problems and [to] know the
proper treatment of these problems.” Moreover, Washington believed that seeing “the bigness and oneness of social work, and yet the
complexity of it” (p. 448) was essential for competent practice. Washington also noted that a
social worker’s “failure to see social problems in
the large” results from a lack of perspective,
which is characteristic of the untrained worker.
For him, training involved the development of a
curriculum that would prepare men and
women to “accelerate human progress.” In
sum, Washington stated that “to be master of
the process by which social change takes place is
the function of the social worker” (p. 449).
conceptualization of human beings and their
group survival. Although individual uniqueness
is valued, the Africentric paradigm rejects the
idea that the individual can be understood
separate from others in his or her social group
(Ak’bar, 1984; Nobles, 1980). The fact that African American pioneer social workers spoke of
and wrote about “the race” as a national community (as well as a local neighborhood) suggests that a sense of the collectivity was axiomatic to their thinking. The Africentric paradigm
counteracted the deficit approaches to dealing
with African Americans and insisted on practice
that takes into account the cultural uniqueness
of the group. Derogatory images of the group
that negatively appraised their political, economic, and social worth are replaced with positive images of strength and resourcefulness. In
the early 1920s, Dexter (1978) discussed the
deficit model of practice that white workers applied to their African American clients in the
following excerpt. He noted that white workers
commit one of two mistakes.
They either insist on the standards of family
and social life which they consider those of
normal white people; or they believe that because their clients are Negroes they cannot be
expected to have much in the way of
standards…The first group of workers are
very liable to fail in their attempt and admit
finally that the second have the correct attitude. The second method, carried to its logical
conclusion, means that there is literally no
constructive work done with colored people,
and that the ideals of family and community
life, economic and moral alike, are uncultivated
and unknown. (Dexter, 1921/1978, p. 427)
Dexter’s (1921/1978) idea of preferable practice reflects the Africentric approach. He noted
that the African American worker “knows her
people’s background. She does not impose on
them a standard which is at present impossible;
nor—and this is even more important—does
she believe them non-moral or unimprovable”
(p. 427). Similarly Jones (1978) believed that
effective social work would “help to produce a
hearty race, a self-contained group, a resourceful people from whom [would] emerge outstanding characters whose special contributions
Africentric Paradigm
This holistic perspective also illustrates that pioneer African American social workers were enmeshed in the Africentric paradigm. The
Africentric paradigm emphasizes a collective
Carlton-LaNey / African American Social Work Pioneers’ Response to Need
315
to the welfare of man [would] tend to bring
more respect for and more confidence in the
Negro as a people” (p. 463). Essentially, Jones
saw social work as having the capacity to focus
on the collectivity with emphasis on sharing,
cooperation, and social responsibility—features
endemic to Africentricity (Ak’bar, 1984; Daly,
Jennings, Beckett, & Leashore, 1995).
working-class women, tenant farm women, and
poor women (Lerner, 1972). These African
American institution builders were engaged in a
movement for self-reclamation. Although the
institutions and organizations with which African American pioneers were associated sometimes appeared to reflect conservative U.S. mores and the status quo, there existed what Hine
called “a palpable undertone of muted defiance
of racial and gender inequalities pervading virtually every aspect of American society” (p. 88).
Organizations and Institutions
Creating organizations and institutions as
mechanisms for service and empowerment was
also crucial to Progressive Era African American social work. Fannie Barrier Williams, community activist and social welfare reformer, was
influential in several initiatives to create new
institutions for African Americans. In an article
published in Charities, Williams (1905) stated
that in her opinion, “the Negro individual does
not like to be alone in good works. His bent for
organization is a sort of racial passion” (p. 41).
Williams further noted that “indeed, no race of
men and women feels more strongly than we do
the force of the maxim that in union there is
strength” (p. 41). Although African American
male social workers and social reformers were
instrumental in establishing numerous organizations and institutions (for example, the NUL,
NAACP, the National Negro Business League,
and the Anti-Slavery Society), African American women played the major role in creating
social, educational, religious, and economic institutions designed to improve life in the African American community. Unlike their white
counterparts who, according to social reformer
Mary White Ovington, focused on cultural activities instead of philanthropic work (Salem,
1990), African American club women concentrated on self-improvement and community
improvement with an omnipresent emphasis
on race pride and race advancement (Lerner,
1972). By 1920 African American women had
established homes for elderly people, schools,
hospitals, sanitariums, orphanages, settlement
houses, libraries, and training schools for every
representative community (Carlton-LaNey,
1989; Neverdon-Morton, 1989; Hine, 1990).
Like white clubs, African American clubs were
lead by middle-class women, but dissimilarly,
the African American club members included
Web of Affiliation
African American social work pioneers were
involved in myriad organizations and community service programs. Their reform work was
done through a “web of affiliations” (Gilkes,
1988). The complexity and multiplicity of their
careers reflected an obligation to service and a
commitment to social betterment. In describing
the social worker of the early 1900s, Dexter
(1921/1978) recounted the need for them to be
involved in the many aspects of the African
American community to be effective. In 1921
he stated that “various movements are on foot
among the Colored (sic) people for their own
improvement and a social worker who is not in
touch with them is probably not of the sort to
serve the community best” (p. 439). Dexter,
General Secretary of the Associated Charities in
Atlanta, expected that social workers should
exercise some discretion in the ways that they
chose to spend their time and indicated that
they “should be familiar with those activities
which are working toward the advancement of
the colored people and be ready to lend every
possible assistance to the sound and constructive movements” (p. 439). There are numerous examples of reformers and social welfare
workers who divided their time between various worthy causes. Mary McLeod Bethune, for
example was the founder of BethuneCookman College, an institution that was initially established for female students. She served
as president of that school from 1904 to 1942.
Bethune was also a founding member of the
NACW and served as president of that organization as well. Her affiliations were not disparate and fragmented; instead her involvement
reflected what McCluskey (1997) called a
Social Work / Volume 44, Number 4 / July 1999
316
“multileveled struggle for gender and racial empowerment” (p. 424).
Social orders were also significant in the
work of African American reformers. Secret in
ritual, but benevolent in purpose, these groups
claimed large memberships and were recognized as acceptable social outlets and important
service channels. In discussing the social bonds
in Chicago’s African American community,
Williams (1905) indicated that secret orders
were second only to the church in influence
among African Americans. The Masons, Odd
Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and the True Reformers were listed as some of the most prominent, with the Masons and Odd Fellows having
the largest number and being the most influential. Williams felt that in “no other form of organization do the terms brotherhood and mutual obligation mean so much.” She further
indicated that “fifty percent of Chicago’s better
class of Negro men are enrolled in some secret
order” (p. 42), with many men holding membership in as many as four or five at a time.
organizational maintenance, and planned
change. African American club women, for example, engaged in philanthropic work in several
ways and were noted especially for their initiatives to care for indigent elderly people.
Women’s clubs mobilized to provide homes for
elderly people in many major cities throughout
the country. The women donated monies to
specific old peoples’ homes and sometimes
taxed each club member an annual fee as part of
their fund-raising obligation. This was the rule
of the Tent Sisters Old Folks’ Home in North
Carolina, which required that each sister in the
order give a pound of food per month and at
least 25 cents per year to maintain the home.
Various women’s clubs managed endowments
left to operate homes for elderly people. In
many cases daily responsibilities for running a
home were left to club women volunteers
(Carlton-LaNey, 1989). Many African American social work pioneers fulfilled the role of
philanthropist through both time and money.
Wholly Impossible
Perhaps the phrase, “We specialize in the
wholly impossible,” is the slogan that aptly captures the womanist consciousness that these
African American female pioneers embraced.
These women engaged in efforts to serve
women and girls, but issues of race took priority. Elise McDougald (1925) supported this
when she said, “In this matter of sex equality,
Negro women have contributed few outstanding militants. Their feminist efforts are directed
chiefly toward the realization of the equality of
the races, the sex struggle assuming a subordinate place” (p. 691). Furthermore, McDougald
indicated that the African American woman
faced a discrimination in which she was “figuratively struck in the face daily by contempt from
the world about her” (p. 691). Although most
of these women were socioeconomically prominent, they were not spared the humiliation to
which McDougald referred. Even with their
educational achievement, property ownership,
poise, and eloquence, these women were still
thought of and treated like “washerwomen”—a
pejorative image that was politically and economically expedient. It is probably this awareness that kept them attuned to the deplorable
Philanthropy
Philanthropy was essential. The term philanthropy usually suggests large monetary contributions. Philanthropic work among African
American social workers during this time in
history usually took the form of small-scale giving. Burwell (1995) used the phrase “pennies,
nickels and dimes,” to connote the relatively
small-scale fund raising efforts in the African
American community. Burwell also advocated,
however, that we shift paradigms to better understand the extent of charitable work that
emanated from the African American community at the turn of the century. Although individual giving may have produced small
amounts of money, philanthropy was, nonetheless, great enough to support many organizations and charities. Furthermore, Hine (1994)
noted that philanthropic work involved personal assistance and that people usually knew
the families, individuals, or groups to whom
they contributed. Both financial contributions
and volunteer service must be included in our
definition of philanthropy. Philanthropic work
was not done out of a desire for social control;
rather, the goals were individual improvement,
Carlton-LaNey / African American Social Work Pioneers’ Response to Need
317
conditions to which their less-fortunate sisters
were subjected.
These pioneers, nonetheless, moved forward
in their efforts to mentor, educate, train, and
protect younger women. Their womanish consciousness allowed them to recognize the political nature of sexism long before their white
counterparts. And unlike their white sisters,
these pioneers faced the fact that sexual exploitation and violence were perpetuated by both
African American and white men. Politicizing
sexual exploitation and harassment for African
American women placed it squarely within the
context of race. Combating sexual exploitation,
therefore, was inextricably linked to race uplift
(Gordon, 1991; Hine, 1990). In accomplishing
this “double task”—sex and race emancipation—McDougald (1925) said of the African
American woman: “She is measuring up to the
needs and demands of her family, community
and race and radiating…a hope that is cherished by her sisters in less propitious circumstances throughout the land. The wind of the
race’s destiny stirs more briskly because of her
striving” (p. 691). Acknowledging the mammoth nature of this “double task,” Nannie
Burroughs, founder of the National Training
School for Women and Girls in Washington,
DC, summarized the African American social
reformers’ commitment when she said, “We
specialize in the wholly impossible” (Hine,
1990). This declaration carried overtones of defiance, determination, and dedication, qualities
that characterized African American Progressive Era social work and social reform.
by providing a sense of historical continuity
that helps one to see the relationship and the
parallels between the past and the present.
The same elements and dimensions of practice that emerged during the early part of the
century continue to be useful in practice today.
The “race lens” is certainly important in addressing practice issues for which racial tensions
continue to impede professional helping (Proctor & Davis, 1994). According to Allen-Meares
and Burman (1995), the social work profession
maintains a discomforting silence when viewing
inequalities and social conditions that affect African American families. A similar silence exists
when schools of social work participate in perpetuating these inequalities through differential
treatment of African American faculty and students. Where this is true, the social work profession is helping to sustain societal oppression
and facilitating the unequal distribution of
power and resources. Swigonski (1996) maintained that “all forms of oppression result in
privileges for the oppressors” (p. 156). A denial
of privilege and a denial of racism go hand in
hand. Unearned privilege supports and maintained the unequal distribution of power and
resources that confronts us daily (hooks, 1990;
Swigonski, 1996). People who have privilege
but deny it are likely to misinterpret the lack of
privilege as pathology when they encounter oppressed groups. The privilege serves to distance
them from others (Penderhughes, 1989). If social workers are to be effective, they must develop greater self-awareness, engage in activities
to alter patterns of social privilege through the
“habit of resistance,” and work to change the
social structure.
Embracing the Africentric paradigm encompasses the holistic approach to practice. This
should continue as essential to competent practice with African Americans. The Africentric
paradigm places an emphasis on personalizing
the professional relationship that encourages
the worker to participate emotionally with the
client. It also emphasizes reciprocity in the
helping relationship (Schiele, 1996). From this
perspective, social workers must be knowledgeable of and engaged in the communities in
which they work. Detachment and lack of
knowledge convey indifference. Reciprocity
Implications for Practice
Many social workers today know very little
about their African American clients and fail to
see the importance of immersing themselves in
African American history and culture. Martin
and Martin (1995) contended that social workers must understand that African Americans are
“both creatures and creators of history in that
history has placed them where they are right
now and has shaped their point of view, their
identity, and their aspirations” (p. 252). Martin
and Martin further noted that historical understanding fosters sensitivity to the plight of African American people in contemporary society
Social Work / Volume 44, Number 4 / July 1999
318
within the helping relationship suggests that
both the worker and the client have something
valuable to contribute to the process. In this
sense, the Africentric paradigm is not elitist. It
presupposes, instead, that the knowledge and
expertise that the client has is equally valuable
in the helping process. The social worker must
acknowledge the clients’ abilities and relinquish
power while allowing the client to serve as the
cultural guide.
Organizations and institutions in the African
American community serve an important empowerment function. It is critical for social
workers to tap into these existing organizations
and institutions as resources. Social workers
must learn as much as possible about community resources and the ways that community residents use those resources. The African American family is the major social institution and
continues as a significant resource in the community. Billingsley (1992) noted that the African American family “remains a resilient and
adaptive institution reflecting the most basic
values, hopes, and aspirations” ( p. 17). Martin
and Martin (1995) indicated that the African
American extended family provided a model for
early social welfare services and that elements of
the extended family such as mutual aid, social
class cooperation, and the prosocialization of
children could be carried into the social welfare
institution. Fictive kinship and racial and religious consciousness served as conduits for carrying these elements to the larger African
American community. The church, the most
prominent social institution second only to the
family, continues as a major source of support
for the African American community. Historically black colleges and universities are increasingly important resources for strengthening African American families and revitalizing
communities (Hill, 1997). Philanthropy, which
continues in the form of small-scale personal
service and giving, also has become more formalized through organizations like the National
Black United Fund. Other formal groups such
as sororities, fraternities, benevolent groups,
and grass roots organizations are important to
the African American community as well.
Informal groups also abound in these communities. African American women, for ex-
ample, have formed numerous informal clubs
to meet various needs. Such a group, for example, may have been formed to provide a discussion forum for people who enjoy reading;
however, as group members suffer personal crises the book clubs have provided the supportive
network of women that members needed. Essentially, these women formed groups out of
needs for support and nurturance, personal and
communal growth, socialization, and self-sufficiency (Carlton-LaNey & Andrews, 1998). Tapping and building on community strengths is
another essential element. Community leaders
are part of that base of strength. Local and national leadership efforts, such as the Pugh Initiative, provide avenues for grass roots leaders
and others recognized as having valuable leadership potential to become involved in civic and
political training programs. Social workers
must analyze the ways that such groups and organizations may benefit or hurt clients, learn
the clients’ relationships to these types of
groups, steer clients toward such groups, or
help the client to form similar self-help groups.
Government entities could be helped to better serve the local community in creative ways.
Local county Departments of Social Services,
for example, could establish formal linkages
with organizations that have national program
mandates to serve the disadvantaged, such as
the Masons, the Links, Inc., and the Alpha
Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta sororities.
It is also important for social workers to be as
active in these groups as possible. The web of
affiliation is empowering and gives its members
leverage. Furthermore, because social workers
have a unique sense of their clients’ sociopolitical positions, they should feel compelled
to use the personal and professional leverage
gained through affiliations or membership to
help to improve the social environment that
affects their clients and ultimately themselves.
As Simon (1994) noted, there continues to be a
need for social workers “[to] join[ing] with
each other and with their clients in pressing and
pushing governments, schools, health and mental health institutions, corporations, and professions to reduce their collaboration in the perpetuation of American patterns of inequity and
injustice” (p. 167).
Carlton-LaNey / African American Social Work Pioneers’ Response to Need
319
Conclusion
Today we continue to confront many of the
same social problems that plagued our ancestors, while racism and discrimination remain
stifling, painful, and cumulative (Feagin &
Feagin, 1996). The social workers of the Progressive Era engaged in practice that has helped
us to better understand society and its response
to people of color. Their work also has provided
a model for practice and service delivery. Many
scholars (Boyd-Franklin,1989; Comas-Diaz &
Greene, 1994; Gary & Gary, 1994; Hill, 1997;
Hodges, Burwell & Ortega, 1998; Martin &
Martin, 1995; Penderhughes, 1989) are building
on the work that our pioneers began. Their
work is valuable and important, but it is not
enough. Like our African American pioneers,
contemporary scholars who have committed
themselves to this area of study challenge the
larger social work profession to confront the
hegemony of systemic oppression as it exists on
all levels. The profession’s ability to respond to
the problems that continue to face African
Americans and other people of color will be a
testimony to our pioneers’ legacy. ■
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Iris Carlton-LaNey, PhD, is associate professor,
School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 301 Pittsboro Street, Campus
Box No. 3550, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550;
e-mail: ibc9717@email.unc.edu.
Original manuscript received July 3, 1998
Final revision received October 6, 1998
Accepted October 20, 1998
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